


snowfall

by safetylance



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M, because ferox is Important, i need sunshine blonde soleil and her brother who i will stubbornly insist has pink hair, i was going to put soleil and ignis in here but next time i guess, kellam!laslow with a lot of mentions of ferox, mentioned azura/selena + odin/takumi + xander/charlotte because i can't help myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 18:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8221432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/safetylance/pseuds/safetylance
Summary: Twice now do Laslow and Benny stand at each others' sides as the snow falls.originally written on and for notegraphy.





	

**Author's Note:**

> one word prompt 66 from a list my friend had on hand: "snow."
> 
> benslow has killed me, hello.

i.

The first snowfall of the winter season isn't something anyone had expected.

Prince Xander is (in case anyone is curious) a generous enough boss, kind enough to allow his retainers' odd schedules and odder habits, and so Laslow is in town when it happens. For a change, the table he sits at outside is a table for one – not a table for two, often with one space bare.

He spares his cup a glance, watching the steam rise, and realises all too suddenly there are flakes of white drifting into his tea. There's no need to look up to check their origins. A chorus of cries rings out along the streets around him as those passing by and other patrons of the café shout. "Snow!" they chant in unison. "Snow!"

He misses the snow far too much when it's gone, dreads it just barely enough when it returns. Snow is a souvenir from home, a security blanket dressed in white. Each flake holds a hundred memories waiting to be recalled, days long since passed of months spent in Regna Ferox with Olivia and Kellam. The thought is bittersweet as the tea in front of him, the place where such white clusters of memory land and melt into the drink. Every sip onward tastes of reminiscence. The tea is drained before he knows it.

Slowly, Laslow stands, presses imprints into the soft, thin layer of snow forming on the ground as he moves to leave. Corrin has set up ways to return to the castle without needing them or Lilith, thankfully, and he figures Pieri is halfway to stabbing someone with worry over his being missing. It's high time to head back, he thinks.

On second thought, it's not. He sees a presence in the thick of the crowd as he joins it, a towering shape with a tuft of yellow on top. He knows that shape, if at least vaguely. "Excuse me!" he calls into the crowd, weaving through it towards the man. "Hello!"

The man he's calling to turns. The look of confused surprise on his face fades into one of recognition, if not still confusion. It's Benny, as assumed. the border guard who'd joined the army along with his partner. They've spoken once, twice, perhaps three times – said partner of Benny's is the fiancée of Laslow's own liege, and Lady Charlotte had taken it upon herself to make sure her best friend and future retainer knew her own betrothed's retainers.

Pieri, of course, terrified the poor man, but Laslow found him charming. He was reminiscent of Brady, almost, masking a soft interior behind a tough exterior, yet unlike with Brady it was easy to find past Benny's facade. Benny's only mask was his face; his words were gentle, movements timid. The eyes, they say, are the windows to the soul, and Benny's eyes radiated with kindness every glance.

They radiate with kindness even now as he gives Laslow a look that most would consider intimidating, one that he recognises is instead confused. "Benny!" Laslow calls as he approaches, offering the taller man a swift, short bow. "Apologies if I'd startled you. Fancy seeing you here, of all places! Busy enjoying the day?"

Benny nods in response. "Laslow..." he says, "hello. I was running low on thread and I didn't want to bother anyone... so I thought I'd go out and buy it myself." His shoulders tremble slightly as he glances up at the sky, then back to Laslow. "It's snowing."

"It is, isn't it~?" Laslow's enthusiasm takes Benny by surprise. "The first snowfall of the season, you know! Such a mild one, too. We _could_ have had a blizzard on our hands, but instead we thankfully got this!"

"We could have... but it's cold all the same." Their breaths mingle in the frigid air, two clouds of wispy white that fade into the atmosphere.

It's cold. He's shaking. _'Ah, wait,'_   Laslow thinks. _'Benny must be freezing.'_

He clears his throat. "Well now!" he says aloud. "Cold, isn't it? We can't have you exposed to this for long. A knight needs to stay in tip-top condition and health!"

Benny shakes his head. "It's okay... we'll be back to the castle soon... get a fire going. I'll be fine then. There's no need to fret over me."

"Ah, but the castle's quite a walk away, isn't it? We can't have you freezing all this time until we get there. So..." Carefully, Laslow grabs the scarf he's wearing, tugs it off. It's a misshapen lump of wool, once crafted by Selena in one of her many attempts to prove herself. She won't miss one of her failures. He rises onto his toes with the balance necessary for a dancer, wrapping it around Benny's own neck and knotting it loosely. "A gift from me to you," he says casually. Benny opens his mouth – likely to insist this isn't necessary, or to thank him – but Laslow cuts him off. "Please," he trills. "Keep it. I've got a liiiittle bit more of an immunity to cold than most others, and you seem like you could use it. Take it."

It's warm, and he insists. So Benny obliges, adjusting the knot while fighting the heat that's threatening to rise to his cheeks for reasons entirely unrelated to the scarf he's now donning. Laslow's touch is light, gentle, took him by surprise and reeled him in. All too suddenly, he realises that he has yet to reply, that Laslow is waiting for a response. "...Okay," he says finally. "Thank you." Then, "um... would you like to walk back together? It's a big crowd... and it'd be easy to get lost."

Laslow laughs. "Benny," he says, "I'd love to accompany you back to the castle. Let's stick together, now! Stay close!"

 

ii.

"Finally... we're here." Laslow turns to his husband, flashing a smile. It's dazzling, a distraction on his face drawing away from the reddened features that come with exposure to the cold. Benny offers one in return, thin and crooked. He will never consider his smile anything but intimidating, but Laslow seems to enjoy every smile worn all the same.

"So..." Benny starts slowly, turns to look at the fortress they stand in front of. "This is... this is Regna Ferox?" It looks nothing like what he's come to expect. Laslow spoke so fondly of home, the two countries that he considered such, and Ylisse lived up to every thought. Beautiful, peaceful. Odin and Selena (Owain and Severa, he reminds himself) had most definitely agreed, settling right back into the roles they'd set up before they left, spouses at their sides. Laslow didn't react quite the same way. Ylisse to him was a puzzle piece that fit almost, but not quite correctly.

 _"Ferox,"_ he'd said fondly when Benny once asked, _"is where my heart truly belongs. Ylisse is my father's home, and I love it dearly, but Ferox is where I've spent long winter nights practicing mother's dance steps by the dying fire, where the khan spoiled me as if I were her own grandson. Ylisse is where I learned of the flowers of spring. Ferox taught me the beauty of snow."_

The Laslow in his memory smiles, that same dazzling beam, and Benny looks back at the crystalline landscape. He'd expected some degree of snow, yes. But not blistering winds and powder packed three feet high, spraying his face with flakes at every sharp gust. "Laslow," he murmurs, realising his husband still has yet to respond, and Laslow turns to him as if only just now remembering Benny is there.

He rises onto his toes, presses a calloused finger against Benny's lips.

"Dear," he finally says. "It's Inigo in these lands, remember? That's my real, true name. It's yours to call me." He taps Benny's nose with the same finger and withdraws it, stubbornly staying raised up to at least get nearer to Benny's full height.

"I.....I know." Benny's response is slow, gradual. "I'm just...... not very used to it still... Inigo." The word is foreign on his lips. "Inigo... Inigo..."

With a proud huff, Inigo reaches out to adjust the scarf loosely knotted around Benny's neck. "Marvellous," he coos. "It's fine if it takes you time – it took me well enough to get used to Laslow. But we have all the time in the world now, don't we?" His hands are still on the scarf, and there's a detected hint of elation edging into his tone. "You still have that scarf."

"Of course i do... it was my first gift from you." He wore it all season that first winter, after all, amidst lighthearted teasing from Charlotte over such a shabby garment. Every day saw him with it wrapped around him, every battle was waged with it tucked under his armour. Benny put quite a bit of stock in charms, and this was to him more powerful than any good luck charm he'd held on his person before.

"That it was, I do suppose. I'm glad you still have it," Inigo hums. "But you know, Severa's knitting has improved splendidly since then. Her scarves and hats actually have shape to them!" He laughs, satisfied when Benny joins in. A mountain shaking from landslide is what it always reminds him of – broad body and tall stature coming loose so very slightly. The thought causes him to look away, cheeks dusted pink as Benny's laugh fades out. "You should see Lady Azura," Inigo continues, eyes still averted, "with her new woollen socks, and sweaters, and mufflers. She resembles a yarn ball far more than a songstress." Again he laughs, this one a soft chuckle. "And Lord Takumi has his hands full with everything she's giving him to wear as well. Owain must be having a field day with all of the clothing she's piling onto him and his husband."

Lady Azura and Selena (really Severa). Prince Takumi and Odin (truly Owain). They're back in Ylisse still, the four of them, along with every friend Inigo had reconciled with upon his return.

It's a bit of a lonely thing to consider, once Benny realises it.

"Speaking of them... all of them... are you okay leaving them behind?" he asks.

Inigo raises a brow, smiles at him. "It's not as if we'll never see each other again," he says lightly. "If you'll still have me when the weather warms, I'll take you back to Ylisse to spend the other seasons."

It's not even something he needs to ask.

"Of course I'll have you... you're my husband." Benny takes one of the hands on his scarf in his own, holding it tight as he turns back to face the fortress. "I came back with you... so I'm going to stay with you."

"Forever and a day, then?" Inigo asks. "Perhaps more?"

"Forever and... two days, at least."

"Good." Inigo's free hand drops from the scarf and back to his side, and he steps forward. "So then let's start forever with a bang and get into this fortress before the cold stops us prematurely~."

Benny squeezes his hand as they walk. "Yes," he agrees, "let's."


End file.
